Owner of pink chickens comes forward

Saturday, March 28, 2015, 10:19 AM - The mystery of the least sinister set of chickens ever has been solved.

The birds, dyed a bright and garish pink that would go rather nicely with the upcoming Easter holiday, were found wandering around Portland, Oregon, last week, delighting observers and puzzling law enforcement, who wondered where the heck they came from.

One theory for that fetching hue, apparently put forward by animal control, was that the owner injected pink dye into fertilized eggs.

Turns out the real explanation was nothing so outlandish. The owner, Bruce Whitman, came forward and said the secret was food dye, beet juice and Kool Aid. 

And as for his motivation, no foul there either: Whitman says he just wanted to "make people smile."

He told media he left the sleeping birds in a tree near the waterfront before daybreak, in the full expectation they'd find plenty to eat and drink while entertaining passersby. He intended to pick them up later, but heard in the media that his prank had succeeded beyond his wildest dreams.

"I love making someone else smile because it'll make me smile," Whitman told the Oregonian. "This came back tenfold."

Animal services charged him $16 per bird and warned him not to do it again (presumably while grinning, or trying not to), and he says he likely won't, but his technicolor brood have apparently been invited to participate in various parades.

SOURCE: The Oregonian | Yahoo/Associated Press 

WATCH BELOW: Snow problem for these chickens, making their way through lousy weather